Politicians Learn Spanish, But Will They Defend English?

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. ENGLISH Inc, the nation's oldest and largest citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States, today questioned a recent effort among Republican lawmakers to learn Spanish. It warns that such an effort could be seen as pandering for Hispanic votes unless the GOP also pushes to help Hispanics – and all Americans – by making English the official language of the United States.

U.S. ENGLISH, Inc. encourages all Americans to learn another language, as it is a huge asset to the nation as well as a boon to individual growth. The founder of U.S. ENGLISH, Inc, the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, was an immigrant and linguist who was fluent in multiple languages. The current Chairman of U.S. ENGLISH, Inc, Mauro E. Mujica, is also an immigrant and fluent in five languages.

While it is good for individuals to be bilingual, multilingualism in government is a tremendous burden. Bilingual education, multilingual ballots and driver’s tests, government funded translators and citizenship ceremonies in foreign languages are not only expensive, they keep immigrants linguistically isolated. When government caters to immigrants in their native languages, it takes away an important incentive for them to learn English. It is also impractical as there are 329 languages spoken in the United States.

That is why U.S. ENGLISH, Inc. supports H.R. 997, the English Language Unity Act of 2003. Introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) earlier this year, the bill would make English the official language of the United States government. H.R. 997 already has 73 co-sponsors and polls show that 84 percent of Americans favor making English the official language of this nation.

“It is fine for Republican representatives to learn Spanish,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. ENGLISH, Inc. “But this strategy will fail if it a simple ploy to get more Hispanic votes. If the GOP really wants to help Hispanics, and unite the country, then more of its members should sign on to co-sponsor H.R. 997. Official English will not only help the party win more votes, it will help give Hispanics an important incentive to learn English – the language they need in order to succeed in America.”

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.